Modified roll stand



Aug. 2, 1955 w. L. DAVIS 2,714,228

MODIFIED ROLL STAND Filed June 5, 1953 a E A: INVENTOR WALTER LEX/E DAV/5 BY V M ATTORNEY fli -12 ,228

Patented Aug. 2, 1955 MODEIFEED ROLL STAND Waiter Lexie Davis, Danville, Va.

Application June 5, 1953, Serial No. 359,753

3 Claims. (Cl. 119-134) This invention relates to the conversion of ordinary cotton spinning equipment to man-made long staple fiber spinning equipment.

Textile spinning machinery became very highly standardized in the days when cotton, wool, and silk were almost the exclusive raw materials of the industry. With if the advent of rayon and other synthetic fibers, there has been a need for spinning equipment capable of taking advantage of the ease with which the synthetics can be made into long fibers of 3 to 4-inch staple.

The expense of such equipment has generally been prohibitive heretofore, with the result that most synthetic fiber producers have been forced to manufacture staple lengths of their products which are adapted to be spun on existing cotton or wool equipment.

Old line cotton textile manufacturers with a large in- .i':

vestment ,in standard equipment have been hard hit by their inability to convert their existing equipment to the spinning of long staple synthetics.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide means for converting cotton spinning frames to long fiber spinning frames.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for converting cotton spinning equipment to long fiber spinning equipment at such a low cost as to permit any cotton manufacturer to shift from cotton to long staple rayon. Another object of this invention is to provide means for said conversion that are adaptable to being removed for reconverting to cotton spinning equipment without further machinery costs.

Other objects of this invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and the detailed description of the invention.

The objects of the present invention are accomplished by the provision of an attachment for each roll stand of a standard cotton spinning frame. The attachment is comprised of a straight shaped bar fitted to lay fiat along the top of a roll stand, bearing blocks for each bottom spinhing roll slidably mounted on the bar and adapted to be fixed thereon for spinning suitable length fibers, and a complementary upper roll assembly including cap bars, cap bar nebs, and saddles.

The shaped bar attachment, which forms an important part of this invention, must be of substantially uniform cross section, as the bearing blocks must be freely movable thereon. It must be straight so that the blocks will fit the roll necks at any position along its length. It should be shaped to the extent that it is not round, as a round bar would permit the bearing blocks to turn thereon. Preferably the bar is formed with a T-shaped cross section so that a complementary shaped bearing block can be mated therewith for a close tight sliding assembly. Obviously, other shapes may be adapted to accomplish the same end. It is important to have the bar extending rear- Wardly of the existing roll stand to keep the front drawing rolls properly positioned with respect to the ring rail.

The gist of the invention is the positioning of the attachment directly onto the unmodified existing roll stand which makes possible tremendous savings in labor and material.

The invention will be better understood by reference to the drawings in which Figure 1 is an end elevation showing the roll stand and rolls of a standard Saco-Lowell Roth system spinning frame modified in accordance with the instant invention.

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view taken along line 22. of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 33 of Figure 1.

One preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in Figure 1 in which one ordinary Saco- Lowell Roth system spinning frame roll stand is indicated generally at It) and a T-shaped bar indicated generally at 12 is secured thereon. This invention is described with reference to a single roll stand; but it will, of course, be obvious to anyone skilled in the art that each roll stand along each side of a frame must be similarly modified.

It will also be understood that the lateral positioning of the various elements, including the cap bar assembly and the saddle and stirrup assembly is conventional.

The roll stand '10 is a standard cast iron stand appropriately thickened at the points of greatest stress and strain and provided with hearing grooves 14, 16, and 18, for the front, middle, and back bottom spinning rolls respectively and a separate groove 2a adapted to receive the cap bar support rod. With the attachment of the present invention, none of these grooves are used for their intended purpose.

The T-shaped bar 12 is provided with countersunk holes 22, and the roll stand 10 is provided with internally threaded holes 24. Thus, as can best be seen on Figure 2, screws 26 are inserted through the hole 22 and screwed into holes 24 to make a firm attachment of the bar 12 onto the roll stand ltl. It will be noted that in the form shown, a cut-out 28 is provided in the T-shaped bar attachment to accommodate the raised portions 30 of the stand 10 which were used in the standard frame for holding the apron bar. This cut-out is not required when the invention is used in combination with a Whitin spinning frame.

Four bearing blocks 32, 34, 36 and 38 for the front bottom roll, middle bottom roll, back bottom roll, and cap bar support rod respectively are positioned on the bar 12 as best shown in Figure 3.

Set screws 4% are provided for positively holding the bearing blocks at a desired position along the bar 12. By loosening these set screws, the bearing blocks can be set for one-inch draft, two-inch draft, three-inch draft, sixinch draft, or any increment thereof as desired. As shown, the rolls are set for about a 5-inch draft which will accommodate from about 3 inch to 4% inch staple.

In the form shown, the preferred complementary equipment for supporting the upper rolls includes a front saddle 42 and a rear saddle 44 connected at a pivot point 46, which is adjustable for various lengths of fibers by virtue of longitudinal slot 48 cut into the rear end of the front saddle to provide a movable pivot. A fixed front saddle bearing 50 and a fixed rear saddle bearing 52 are positioned at the front of the front saddle and at the rear of the rear saddle for engaging the front and back top rolls in the usual manner. A long intermediate saddle bearing 54 is provided at the front of the rear saddle for engaging the middle roll at whatever position it is set. A conventional weighted stirrup 56 holds the saddles in position. A cap bar 58 mounted on a cap bar support rod 66 carries nebs 62, 64, 65 and 63 for the top front roll, a pencil roll, the top middle roll, and the top back roll respectively. Set screws 42 are provided for maintaining the position of apron 82 and the pencil roll are not necessary as it Will be obvious that there is less need for aprons where longer fibers are used. It is within the skill of the art to utilize this invention for cotton spinning systems other than the Saco-Lowell Roth system shown and in one modification, not shown, it is particularly useful on Whitins Casa Blanca system spinning frames.

Thus, it will be seen that high flexibility at a very low cost is attained by the combination of a straight shaped bar fastened directly onto the top of a standard existing cotton spinning frame roll stand with bearing blocks which can be fixed thereon at any desired position to carry bottom drawing rolls.

While this invention has been described in terms of a spinning frame for the purpose of clarity, the term spinning frame as it is used in this specification and claims is intended to include drawing frames and roving frames unless obviously otherwise indicated.

I claim:

1. A drawing roll stand provided with a plurality of unvarying drawing roll bearing positions, a straight shaped bar of substantially uniform cross section throughout its length positioned along the top of said stand and over said unvarying bearing positions and extending rearwardly thereof for a substantial distance, bearing blocks for each set of drawing rolls slidably mounted on said bar, and means for fixing each of said bearing blocks at a predetermined position along the length of said bar whereby long staple fibers and short staple fibers may be drawn on the same equipment by proper selection of the bearing block positions or by removing said bar.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein said bar has a T-shaped cross section and said bearing blocks have mating shapes for a close tight slidable mounting.

3. A drawing roll stand provided with a plurality of unvarying drawing roll bearing poistions, a straight shaped bar of substantially uniform cross section throughout its length positioned along the top of said stand and over said unvarying bearing positions and extending from one end thereof for a substantial distance, bearing blocks for each set of drawing rolls slidably mounted on said bar, and means for fixing each of said bearing blocks at a predetermined position along the length of said bar whereby long staple fibers and short staple fibers may be drawn on the same equipment by proper selection of the bearing block positions or by removing said bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 888,102 Libby May 19, 1908 2,357,982 Thomas et al Sept. 12, 1944 2,446,021 Noguera July 27, 1948 2,601,371 Cotchett et al June 24, 1952 2,624,077 Winslow Jan. 6, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 84,888 Switzerland Dec. 6, 1918 

